The present invention relates generally to techniques for managing Internet bandwidth. More particularly, the present invention encompasses various systems and methods for arranging a file into one or more graphics files, and transferring the graphics files into a cache when a browser paints a web page.
Internet-based information downloading offers the promise of ease and convenience. Downloading large files, however, can be quite time consuming in the absence of a high-speed Internet connection. In particular, downloading an application, application upgrade, or application update over a conventional modem-based Internet connection may take a considerable amount of time, possibly on the order of an hour. During this time, downloading may virtually be the only activity that can take place over such an Internet connection. Moreover, in the event that an Internet user is charged on an hourly or similar basis for connection time, downloading can become undesirably costly. Therefore, there is a need for a technique for enhancing Internet downloading efficiency and managing bandwidth during download operations, particularly relative to downloading large files such as executables.